Mail-collecting apparatus



E. J. LEGER.

MAIL COLLECTING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED nec. 10. i920.

'1,400,61 1. Patented Dec. 20, 1921.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE- MAIL-COLLECTING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec. 20 1921.

Application filed December 10, 1920. Serial No. 429,798.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that l, EMILE J. LEGER, a subject of the King of England, residing at Moncton, Province of New Brunswick, Canada, have invented a new and useful Mail-Collecting Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for i automatically collecting mail from different points and delivering itto a central station, one of the objects of the invention being to provide an underground carrier adapted to travel continuously along a prescribed path and which, during such movement, will pass mail boxes or containers which will be operated automatically to deliver the mail therefrom to the car and subsequently automatically reset to retain the mail until the car makes its next trip.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the 'details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that, within the scope of what is claimed, changes in the precise embodiment of the invention shown can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings Figure 1 is an elevation of a mail box anda collecting car in position adjacent thereto during the interchangeof mail, the conduit in which the car is located being shown in section. i

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section through the mail box and conduit and show ing the collecting car in elevation.

Referring to the ligures by characters of reference 1 designates a conduit which can be extended over any desired territory, the same beginning and ending at a central station and being provided with a continuous track 2 having a third rail 3 located whereever desired. At suitable points along the conduit are provided mail boxes one of which has been shown in the drawings.

This mail box, which has been indicated at 11, is arranged within a housing 5 extending above the surface of the ground, the lower portion of the housing being enlarged as at 6 and opening into one side of the conduit l at the top thereof. The box 1 1S provided with the usual mail receiving slotv whlch ca n have a closure of any desired construction, indicated at 8 and within the box and below the slot is a trap door 9 which normally hangs downwardly within the box, this trap door being hingedly mounted at 10 and having an arm 1l. The armature 12 of a solenoid 13 may be connected to this arm so that when the solenoid is energized the attraction of the armature will result lin the movement of the trap door from its depending or open position to its raised or closed position as shown in F ig. 2.

The lower portion of the box t is inclined downwardly and laterally toward the conduit l and 1s provided7 at its open lower end with parallel guides le extending above the open lower end of the box. Slidable within these guides is a door l5 which is normally closed and is connected to one arm of a lever 16 fulcrumed as at 17 (see Fig. l) and having the armature 18 of a solenoid 19 connected to the other arm thereof. Thus when the solenoid is energized the armature vwill be attracted to move the lever 16 and shift the door to open position.

Supported within one side of the conduit across tl e point of communication between the conduit and the housing 6 is a contact rail 2O the ends of which are upturned and supported beyond the sides of the housing as shown in Fig. l. This rail is velectrically connected as by means of` a conductor 2l, to the solenoid 13 and said solenoid, in turn, is electrically connected, as by a conductor 22, to the solenoid 19.r The latter solenoid is electrically connected by a conductor 23 to the track n. l

The car used for collecting the mail has been indicated at 24- and is designed to travel along the track 2, this car being provided with a hinged cover 25 to which is connected the armature 26 of a solenoid 27 mounted in a suitable bracket 28 carried by the car body. A shoe 29 is connected in any suitable manner to the cary for traveling along the third rail 3 and this car is provided with a motor indicated generally at 30 and which receives its power from the third rail in the usual or any preferred manner thereby to drive the car continuously along the track 2 fromthe time it leaves the central station until it returns thereto.

Y A contact lever 31 is mounted to swing on one side of the car and is movable against noid 27 wiich, in turn, is electrically con-V nected by a conductor 83 to the circuit lead-V ing to the motor 30, there being any suitable resistance)provided in' theconductor 33, as indicated at 34C. i i Y As bei'iore stated the door l5 is normally closed while the trap 9 is normally open.v

rlhus when mail or other articles are placed in the top portion ot the box 4. will gravitate against the door l5. its the car traveling along the track 2 comes to position below lthe lower end of the boX 4 the lever 3l comes against the eontactrail 20. This immediately completes a circuit through the solenoids 27, 19 and 13 withV the result that the armatures willbe attracted. rlf'he trap 9 will immediately move to closed position, thus to intercept .any mail that mightbe placed in the boi; vhile the cai" is receiving articles from the boit.V rEhe energizing of the solenoids will also promptly open theV door l5 and the cover 255. es soon as the door l5 is lifted thema-il contained behindA it will gravitate into the open car body, the cai' in the meantime moving forwardly. The car is ofsuch length, however, that the mail will have ample opportunity to tall thereinto beiore the Vear passesjfroni` under the boit. fris soonV as the lever 3l passes away trom Vthe contact rail V20 the circuit to the solenoids will be broken and the door l5 will drop to closed' position, the trap 9 Vwill open, andthe coverQ will also tall form having been illustrated in the' drawings.

, end oi the box, and means" controlled by the car for automatically opening the door and closing the trap'l simultaneously.

2. The combination with a receiving box having anoutlet opening Vin the bottom thereoi'and an inlet opening adjacent the top thereof, of a normally open trap between K the inlet and outlet openings, a normally closed door at the outlet opening, a collecting car movable below and past the outlet end of the box, a cover thereon, and means controlled by thecar during its movement,

past thebox for automatically opening the cover and door andclosing the trap, and subsequently releasing them.V

3. The combination with a conduit and a track therein, Vof a receiving` box extending above the conduit and having an inlet at its upper Vend and an outlet at its lower end Y opening into the conduit, a Contact rail extending within the conduit and across the point oi' communication with the receiving box, a door normally closing the'outlet end ofthe hema trap within the box and normally open', said trap being located betweenthe inlet and thevoutlet, a c ar movable auto maticallyalongthe track, contact lever carried thereby and movable into and out of contact with the rail, a closure upon the cai', and means controlled by the contact of the leverwith the rail for simultaneously and automatically opening the closure and the door. and'closing the trap ln testimony that claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence ot two witnesses.v

n' j, Y Y EMILE J. LEGER.

Y Witnesses; j

EDWARD GIROUARD, ANTOINE E. LEGER. 

